The text comes about two hours after he’s left out on his trawling excursion: Put these coordinates in your GPS. Come get me.
Oh shit.
“Well,” I think to myself, “at least I know he’s not drowned somewhere. He’s able to text and give his location.”
A minimal explanation follows: Engine died. Had to drag ashore.
I gather dry clothes for his probably-soaked-and-shivering bod and hustle myself into Scarlett.
Musing on the role reversal — knight in shining armor doesn’t exactly fit this scenario, but Lady In Shining Scarlett has a certain bow-down-and-kiss-the-ring kind of ring to it — during my retrieval operation, I tell him I’m glad he didn’t try to cross the pass to the neighboring island. Had that been the case, it would have been the Coast Guard retrieving him rather than myself.
When he tells me he had originally started that direction, all I can do is groan.
“Well it’s a good thing you turned around,” I say. “Otherwise, you’d be a fully submerged Smotch.”
He just shakes his head.
Row, row, row your boat… I start to sing.
He laughs and replies with a verse of his own:
Row, row, row your Smotch
All across the bay
And let’s all just hope he doesn’t sink along the way!
.
This post is part of my September Song Project. Click the badge for more info and feel free to join me this month in posting musically-inspired musings.
One of the things I recall in having been a boat owner was the yearly renewal of my SeaTow contract.
While I never needed it, since my boat was a secondhand fixer-upper, I still always worried that something would fail. I never relaxed on that thing, even while having fun….or trying to have fun. I now have two small craft: a little two-seater for fishing, and a 14′ Grumman semi-vee whose transom is in need of having its interior wood replaced…….something I keep putting off. No more bigger boats for me!
The things that I really appreciated about this post were the lady/knight reference and the use of a song I actually knew. I particularly liked the revised lyrics.
KDPierre recently posted…RenFaire 2021
My hubby works on boats; the one he was out on is one of his “works” (in progress). So I wasn’t terribly surprised there was a problem. I’m just glad I was at home when it happened and was able to get to him quick.
And now I’m wondering what kind of music you listen to, given the recognition factor. *laugh* Perhaps Itsy Bitsy Spider deserves some play? Rubber Duckie? 😛
Hmmmm, what a little imp you are with that speculation. But, ‘yes’ , as a father and grandfather I know not only the two you mentioned, but many many more.
To quell your curiosity I will admit to having listened to the typical pop-rock-schlock all through my teens and into my first year of college, when disco was taking over everything and rock was getting worse and worse. In about 1979 I switched over to jazz, swing, and American standards with a smattering of classical to break things up. Over time I found myself listening less to swing and more to classical until I just switched over completely and explored everything from Hildegarde of Bingen to Arvo Part and Karl Jenkins……………..and as much in-between as I could find.
About 5 years ago, I delved back into jazz quite passionately and expanded my appreciation of that genre……with a little help from Ken Burns…….and now I kind of bounce between the two. The only jazz that eludes me is “free jazz”. I tried. I really did. Just can’t listen to it for more than a few minutes before turning it off. The other notable that Rosa and I share is ethnic music from various cultures, from Native American flute to Huayno and a lot of stops along the way.
What I DON’T listen to is anything that one would associate with the popular folks at the Grammys or what tortures my ears while shopping. No “Laughable Lizzo” for me! Adele makes me want to cry….and not in a “you touched me musically-kind-of-way.” Taylor Swift makes me question human intelligence and Country music incites me to rage. And while I recognize rap as a cultural genre, I am loathe to consider it a musical one. I consider it urban poetry set to a rhythm. But as there is nothing in the way of melody or anything other than beat, I can’t find the ‘music’ in this genre that is supposed to be musical.
I can still listen to (and recognize) stuff from the past, but it is not because I find it ‘better’. I tell folks pop music is like shit. People can kind of handle their own shit, while being repulsed at someone else’s…..but at the end of the day….it’s all still shit.
Probably more than you wanted to know.
KDPierre recently posted…RenFaire 2021
I can deal with jazz if it’s live. As long as everyone is playing in the same key. *laugh*
Classical, yes… Though I get irritated with that label because ‘classical’ is a period — there is also baroque, romantic, modern (which does not mean ‘current’), etc.
I haven’t paid much attention to the pop charts in the past ten years but prior to 2000, I am pretty well familiar with what was playing on them.
“Standards” is a broad category for some and narrow for others; I like Ella Fitzgerald and Bing Crosby but don’t care much for Frank Sinatra or his cronies.
I don’t mind “classical” serving the dual purpose of defining an overall genre and also a specific period within it. People who don’t know shit about it can at least understand what “classical music” kind of is. And for those who are fans, the further understanding of “classical” as a particular period is taken as a testament to a person’s actual awareness.
I don’t mind Sinatra back when he was singing with the Dorsey band, but his later stuff is more of an anthem to a type of person than musical quality in and of itself. In fact that is the biggest problem with music: who actually listens to it? It seems that people use music like fashion, to align with a tribe. Years ago when I was working in retail, I struck up a casual friendship with this Goth guy who worked in a Hot Topics near my store. I liked going in there for a lot of reasons but the music was mindnumbing….which I told him. He laughed and said it was part of the ‘rebel image’ for the store’s identity and I countered by saying, “what would be more rebellious? A Goth who listens to what every other Goth listens to, or one who dresses in black but listens to Bach? To me THAT is the mark of a nonconformist, not obediently dressing and listening to what you’re supposed to.” He liked that way of looking at it, but added that it would never happen. I agree.
I am not terribly musically gifted despite my tastes but I have a lot of ‘musician-types’ in my life. Their understanding of music reminds me of how little I know. For example, they think ‘free jazz’ is amazing stuff when done well, and I am too limited to see it.
KDPierre recently posted…RenFaire 2021
All the YES to your conformity statement!
I started laughing at this “Lady In Shining Scarlett” and didn’t stop until I got to the end. Delightful post!
~ Marie xox
I’m glad the humor came through. 😉
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I had a similar experience when my man went canoeing for a few days 😉
😱
So who’s the lifeguard here?
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